Madrid -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A court in Spain on Friday dropped the most serious charge facing Princess Cristina , a sister of King Felipe VI , raising the possibility that she could avoid a court trial in a financial scandal .

The Provincial Court in Palma de Mallorca threw out a charge of money laundering but allowed two charges of tax fraud to stand , according to the court order .

It was not immediately clear whether the alleged crimes , as charged , would mean a trial for the princess . A magistrate who has been investigating the financial scandal for several years will have to determine whether to do so , an official at the court told CNN .

A court trial of a member of the Spanish royal family would be unprecedented .

The case centers on the nonprofit Noos foundation , which received millions of dollars in government contracts to stage sports and tourism events .

The magistrate , Judge Jose Castro , investigated whether part of that money may have been diverted for private use by the princess and her husband , Inaki de Urdangarin , who is also charged . Through their legal teams , both have denied any wrongdoing .

Before the three-judge panel issued its 160-page ruling Friday -- in response to appeals by various parties to the case -- the court official , by custom not identified , had told CNN that the princess almost certainly would have faced trial if the court had upheld all three charges against her .

But since only the two counts of alleged tax fraud still stand , Castro must decide whether to apply a legal precedent in Spain that if the state prosecutor was n't pressing charges for tax fraud , which is the situation for the princess , then no trial would be held .

A small union called Manos Limpias , or Clean Hands , is alone in pressing the tax fraud charges against her , as a kind of private prosecution , permitted in Spain .

The Supreme Court previously ruled in a separate case that a private charge alone was not strong enough to force a tax fraud trial .

Urdangarin and some 15 other defendants who are charged in the case are expected to face trial , the court official said . The judge has not set a trial date yet .

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NEW : Magistrate in the case must decide whether Princess Cristina will stand trial

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Court in Palma de Mallorca throws out a charge of money laundering

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But Princess Cristina still faces two charges relating to alleged tax fraud

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It is not clear whether the remaining charges are serious enough to require a trial